C H I T C HAT
“There’s no secret for a
successful marriage”
K
areena Kapoor Khan is the mascot who leads filmmakers laughing all the way to the bank. Rather,
she can also be dubbed the mascot for blockbusters that remain impervious to reviews. Ki & Ka was
decimated by the critics but producer-director R Balki
is having the last laugh. With `45 crores in the opening
week, the film is a certified hit. This has been a familiar
story in Kareena’s 16-year career. Inadvertently, she becomes part of money spinners that may not necessarily
humour the critics. Also, for every 100-crore hit she adds
to her kitty, the more recent being Gabbar Is Back and
Bajrangi Bhaijaan, she also knows how to balance it with
offbeat fare. That’s the reason, she features in films like
Talaash, Satyagraha and will be seen in Udta Punjab,
a dark drama on drugs and destruction. She’s a genre
hopper and a director’s dream alright. Her stardom and
talent are timeless, neither showing any signs of fading.
She was the best thing about Ki & Ka and that’s something even Karan Johar mentioned. He messaged her
saying he was impressed at how casual her performance
seemed. “He thought I was real,” she smiles. “I’m a natural actor but to make my part believable was tough. I had
to make people believe that as a working girl, she was
okay with the idea of a house husband.” Ki & Ka was
appreciated for its fresh concept. But critics decried the
fact that the film lacked a pointed message. Kareena
clarifies that they never wanted to make a movie with a
message. Says she, “It’s just fun and romantic. It’s not a
documentary on woman empowerment. So don’t expect
a message. We were not planning to spark a revolution.
This film is about two people, Kiya and Kabeer and their
experiments with a relationship.” She was impressed
by Balki’s ability to think out of the box. “Eventually, it’s
the director’s medium. An actor just chooses to do the
film,” she states. She likes the fact that Balki’s a quiet
person and lets his work do all the talking. “He doesn’t
care about box-office collections. He wants to stick to his
conviction.” Kareena doesn’t have sensational views on
gender equality. She believes the sexes are already on
an even keel. But she does admit that women-oriented
films don’t match up to male-oriented ones in terms of
commerce. “Heroine-oriented films have small budgets
and we get paid according to a film’s budget. Salman
Khan’s films have a budget of 100 crores. So obviously
19 | BOOM